Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Discrimination Against Bigots

Ok, you knew it was coming. How could I *not* blog about our oh-so-arrogantly-ignorant Senator Stacey Campfield and the bomb of misinformation which he has released lately?First, let's start with the fact that this woefully uneducated Senator made the statement that it was his understanding that A.I.D.S. was introduced into the human species by a single airline pilot who had sex with a monkey and then had sex with men.Now, Senator Campfield claims that the comment was made "on the fly". In other words, he attempted to discuss a topic about which he knows nothing and grabbed the first myth that popped into his head.

He also went on to say that:

"I'm not a historian on AIDS," he said in an interview Friday. "But I've read and seen what other people have read and seen, and those facts are out there."

Ok, well, nobody said you had to be a historian on A.I.D.S. My question is, why are you working with the level of information that the average 5-year-old child might have on the subject when you are attempting to make policy on whether or not homosexual safe sex should be taught in schools?

Furthermore, notice that he claims that he has "read and seen what other people have read and seen, and those facts are out there." Ok, first of all, I've read and seen all kinds of ridiculous things that other people have read and seen, that doesn't mean that I judge whether something is valid or not based on such ridiculous criteria.

Furthermore, "those facts are out there" shows that he clearly doesn't understand the difference between "facts" and "claims". Yes, those claims are out there. They are not facts. In FACT, his information is based on material from more than 20 years ago. Surely he realizes that keeping abreast of current science research is part of his responsibility when making policy regarding such issues?

The sad thing is, even the most skimming glance at the CDC web site, which is perhaps the primary source for reliable information on H.I.V. and A.I.D.S., would have allowed him to avoid making himself look like such a buffoon.

The problem isn't necessarily just that Stacey Campfield's education-level regarding one of the most devastating viruses known to the human race in the past 100 years is stuck at about a second-grade level. The problem is that his failure to educate himself before forming an opinion has not only revealed him to be something of a monkey himself, but he is spreading the disease of ignorance via misinformation in a way that actually endangers lives.

That's where we get to the second leg of his ridiculous comments, which include the statement that it is "virtually impossible" for individuals to become infected with the H.I.V. virus via heterosexual sex.

"Heterosexual transmission accounted for the second largest route of HIV transmission in the United States in 2006."

Wow. The second LARGEST ROUTE of HIV transmission in the United States in 2006. If that's "virtually impossible", I'd hate to see what "highly likely" looks like!

But let's just say for the sake of argument that all of the bullshit spewed from the mouth of this arrogantly ignorant mis-representative of the people of Tennessee were true... does it really matter?

Whether the information he claimed was true or not (it isn't), he is attempting to exclude homosexual safe sex education from being taught along with other types of safe sex instruction because he "doesn't agree" with homosexuals.

I'm not sure what delusion one would suffer from in order to believe that not agreeing with who a person is allows one the privilege of denying them life-saving information that can a) prevent them from dying a long, slow, horrible death and b) save the taxpayers from having to foot the bill for the medical care for as many A.I.D.S. patients which most often have no choice but to make use of indigent care programs paid for by taxpayers.

In essence, the message that Senator Campfield is sending is that he thinks it's perfectly fine if homosexuals die of A.I.D.S. because they didn't receive proper education in sex-ed class, because he thinks they are sinful people who are an abomination to his invisible friend.

I "don't agree" with religious people who attempt to create a country with policies based on what people wrote thousands of years ago who didn't even know where lightning comes from. That doesn't mean that I would deny him or his kind a proper education about how to save his life.

I won't get into the realities of how there are more than 300 species of animals with homosexual populations among them, because that is obviously way over the head of anyone like Stacey Campfield and I wouldn't want his head to explode from too much science being introduced at once.

What I will say is that I am very proud of Bistro owner Martha Boggs for having the courage to stand up to such an arrogantly ignorant jackass and not just mindlessly smile and not like so many southern women have been taught to do in the presence of "authority figures".

If a man-child like Stacey Campfield had the courage to face someone like me and I had the opportunity to present counter-arguments face-to-face with him, I would most like to address his claim that Martha Boggs was "unprofessional" in her interaction with him:

Senator Campfield: What is "unprofessional" is when someone allows their religion to get in the way of adequately advocating for the rights of ALL of their constituents based solely on the fact that they believe in invisible beings whom they believe have spoken through ancient people to say that having a natural attraction to people of the same sex is morally wrong.

I am 100% certain that Senator Campfield commits quite a few sins on a daily basis.

When you allow your personal religious beliefs to prevent you from doing your job, which is to serve ALL of your constituents and not just the ones you "agree" with, ESPECIALLY when it comes to life-saving health education, you have proven yourself unworthy to serve at taxpayer expense.

If you would like to refund every homosexual person the amount of tax money they have been forced to pay toward your salary, perhaps they wouldn't mind so much that you are practicing religious-based bigotry against a large portion of Tennessee's population. Until then, you need to re-evaluate your priorities.

If your beliefs put you at odds with your duties, the morally right thing to do would be to give up the one which you feel is less important. You have a right to your religious views. You do not have a right to deny life-saving education to ANYONE based on religious beliefs.

In fact, your attempt to enact laws which you have clearly acknowledged are based solely on religion would seem to be in violation of the United States Constitution, since it prefers your particular religion which happens to view homosexuality as "wrong", despite the fact that there are other religions which do not view it as such.

Separation of church and state. That includes those who attempt to legislate based on personal religious beliefs alone.Tennessee is not your church, and you do not have the right to subject us to the views of your church to the detriment of an entire segment of our population.

Either give up your attempts to make the state of Tennessee into your own personal Sunday school class, or go monkey around somewhere else.